In 2018, the United States (US) Supreme Court ruled in Murphy versus National Collegiate Athletic Association that the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was unconstitutional. This 1992 act prohibited states from legalizing sports betting, and this Supreme Court ruling opened the gates for a new industry. In the years since, 39 states and Washington, District of Columbia (DC) have legalized sports betting, ushering in a new era of sports entertainment, according to americangaming.org.
The sports betting industry has grown rapidly since, with legal bets amounting to $157 billion in 2025 alone, according to taxfoundation.org. The creation and explosive popularity of numerous sports betting apps have made betting easier than ever. As of 2025, 22 percent of American adults participated in sports betting, according to pewresearch.org. This year, experts estimated that Americans legally wagered $1.76 billion dollars on Super Bowl LX alone, according to americangaming.org.
While sports betting apps may seem like an innocuous and fun way to make money, many users have since found themselves struggling with addictions. Internet searches related to gambling addiction increased 23 percent nationally between 2018 and June 2024, according to ucsd.edu. Gambling addictions can have devastating financial consequences, with one survey finding that 25 percent of sports bettors have been unable to pay a bill because of a bet they made, according to usnews.com. Gambling disorders also affect mental health, with compulsive gamblers facing higher risks of self-harm and suicide, according to nih.gov.
Despite its potential dangers, sports betting has become ingrained within the sports entertainment industry. Commercials featuring exciting promotions and celebrities fill air time, and advertisements appear in-game through sideline banners, billboards, and on-court brand logos. A 2024 study that observed National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) games discovered that viewers saw 2.8 sports betting advertisements every minute, according to cbc.ca. Experts like Mr. Harry Levant, a gambling addiction therapist and director of gambling policy at Northeastern University School of Law’s Public Health Advocacy Institute, argued that these advertising campaigns promote gambling while distracting consumers from potential risks, according to hls.harvard.edu.
“What we’re looking at is the total normalization of a known addictive product,” Mr. Levant said, according to hls.harvard.edu. “Does it get any more normalized than when a nine-year-old child visits Fenway Park and sees MGM and DraftKings on the Green Monster?”
Alongside rampant advertisement, modern technology has also exacerbated the already addictive nature of gambling, according to cbsnews.com. Mr. Matt Zarb-Cousin, a gambling reformer from the United Kingdom, found that sports betting companies like FanDuel use data collected from their app to better understand their consumers and push notifications to keep them engaged.
“The about 93 different data points they had on this individual were when they bet, what offers worked, what inducements worked,” Mr. Zarb-Cousin said, according to cbsnews.com. “They knew the life stage[,] the customer life stage he was at.”
Modern technology has also introduced live betting, which involves wagers on practically anything that happens during a game, including microbets on events that can happen within seconds. Concerns over this form of betting grow as gambling at faster speeds can make it difficult for players to stop gambling as they place bets before they can assess the risk they are about to make, according to nih.gov. In 2025, in-game bets accounted for over half of the money bet on Fanduel and Draftkings, and industry experts suggest that this new product development is purposefully designed to keep users on betting apps, according to The New York Times.
These unprecedented factors set sports betting apart from traditional forms of gambling and challenge the effectiveness of existing gambling disorder treatments. While the gambling landscape continues to change at a rapid pace, treatments evolve more slowly. Compulsive sports bettors, specifically young men, struggle to connect with traditional measures such as help lines and Gamblers Anonymous. Experts believe new solutions must be created that cater specifically to the unique nature of online sports betting, according to The New York Times. Despite the potentially devastating results of sports betting, many experts are not calling for the elimination of the industry, but only for better regulation to protect Americans and encourage them to play responsibly. Mr. Levant commented that he only wishes to see the field under safe and effective governance.
“I am in favor of the legalization of sports gambling,” Mr. Levant said, according to hls.harvard.edu. “I can’t do it, but I’m in favor of you being able to do it properly regulated.”
Featured Image by Emilia Oliva ’27
